[cellular-automata.git] / 001 / README.md

life-001
========


Approach
--------
The grid is represented as flat list of sequential ID's, where neighbors are
calculated using the offset relative to the desired length of the printed
X-axis. See my prototyping doodles at the bottom.

Each cell is represented as a gen_server process named after its corresponding
ID on the grid and holding the names of its neighbors in its state record.

Likewise, time is represented as a gen_server process which sends ticks to all
cells and collects state responses, then proceeds to sort and print the
resulting board - this constitutes one generation.

Upon receipt of a tick, a cell broadcasts its state to its neighbors, then
proceeds to collect counterpart broadcasts from its neighbors. Upon collection
of all broadcasts - it calculates its new state and sends it to the time
process.

Additionally, there's, a non-essential, observer process, whose job is to
simply log the statistics for each run of the simulation.


Usage
-----
* Get: `git clone git://github.com/ibnfirnas/life.git`
* Enter: `cd life/001`
* Build: `make`
* Run: `./bin/life`


Doodles
-------
![Doodles](https://github.com/ibnfirnas/life/raw/master/001/doodles.jpg)
Commit	Line	Data
	1	life-001
	2	========
	3
	4
	5	Approach
	6	--------
	7	The grid is represented as flat list of sequential ID's, where neighbors are
	8	calculated using the offset relative to the desired length of the printed
	9	X-axis. See my prototyping doodles at the bottom.
	10
	11	Each cell is represented as a gen_server process named after its corresponding
	12	ID on the grid and holding the names of its neighbors in its state record.
	13
	14	Likewise, time is represented as a gen_server process which sends ticks to all
	15	cells and collects state responses, then proceeds to sort and print the
	16	resulting board - this constitutes one generation.
	17
	18	Upon receipt of a tick, a cell broadcasts its state to its neighbors, then
	19	proceeds to collect counterpart broadcasts from its neighbors. Upon collection
	20	of all broadcasts - it calculates its new state and sends it to the time
	21	process.
	22
	23	Additionally, there's, a non-essential, observer process, whose job is to
	24	simply log the statistics for each run of the simulation.
	25
	26
	27	Usage
	28	-----
	29	* Get: `git clone git://github.com/ibnfirnas/life.git`
	30	* Enter: `cd life/001`
	31	* Build: `make`
	32	* Run: `./bin/life`
	33
	34
	35	Doodles
	36	-------
	37	![Doodles](https://github.com/ibnfirnas/life/raw/master/001/doodles.jpg)